Telepathy
by Lutra-Gem
Summary: Sasuke was alone as child after the massacre, but what would have happened if he'd had someone he could talk to in complete security? Someone so secure, almost nobody knew she existed? OC; childhood/early teens fic; one-sided SasuNaru trad. pairings
1. News

The Naruto characters (c) Masashi Kishimoto.

Ogawa Lutra (c) me, Lutra-Gem

* * *

Inuzuka Tsume stood before the Hokage, awaiting his news for her.

The chuunin who had delivered the Sandaime's request had informed her that the matter was urgent and concerned her family. Now her pack instinct was making her fidgety; the presence of another ninja was not soothing her at all, especially since he was from a foreign village.

Sarutobi noticed her restlessness, and decided to be as brief as reasonably possible.

"Tsume-san, I have called you here both to inform you of news and to give you a mission of sorts. An envoy," he said, glancing at the shinobi standing quietly at the window, "from the Hidden Mist has come to ask the Hidden Leaf to take in a child." He drew a piece of paper from one of the ever-present piles on his desk, scanned it, and then looked up after confirming something. "Your aunt married into the Ogawa family, a Hidden Mist clan." It wasn't a question. "I'm sorry to inform you that the last of the Ogawa nin was killed in action a month ago; your cousin, Miharu."

Tsume's eyes widened as she slammed her hands down on his desk, disturbing one of the piles. "What? How did this happen? Even jounin need highly advanced specialised jutsu to detect them when they're on the evasive! And Miharu… Miharu was one of the best, dammit!" Sarutobi observed that her nails were digging slightly into the wood.

Nodding tiredly, Sarutobi locked his fingers together, leaning his chin heavily on them. "While I am less familiar with the clans of the other villages than our own, I am curious as to how so many members of the clan were killed within such a short timeframe."

"How short?" Tsume asked.

"Three months."

Tsume spun to look at the Mist shinobi, who hadn't even turned from the window as he spoke. "Three months?"

"Three months."

"But… that's over thirty nin! Who can kill that many in just three months?"

"We don't know. We suspect that it may be someone, or a group of people with specialised tracking jutsu," he answered, finally looking over his shoulder at Tsume, who growled as she realised his implication, "or those with doujutsu." The shinobi locked eyes with Sarutobi, who nearly let a pained look flicker across his face. He was fully aware that the Hidden Leaf was home to two of the 'Three Doujutsu': the _Byakugan_ and the _Sharingan_. "However," the shinobi continued, "we do not believe that the Hidden Leaf is responsible. A... a rogue nin is the most likely candidate."

Although Sarutobi was highly relieved that a political situation involving the two villages would not occur, he did not fail to notice the man's reluctance to elaborate on the identity of the rogue nin.

The shinobi then turned to face Tsume, who still looked irritated. "Inuzuka-san, a child – about six years of age – has been left unscathed. As her closest living relative, I must ask if you would take her in, at least until she becomes a genin. At that point, which village she joins and her further training will be discussed. Can I ask you to do that?"

Tsume didn't even hesitate to nod. "An orphaned pup of the extended Inuzuka pack needs help; I would be nothing if I did not uphold that."

The shinobi bowed. "Many thanks, Inuzuka-san. I will ensure that the girl is prepared to leave the village in seven day's time," he said. He then bowed to Sarutobi, and turned to leave.

"Wait," Tsume said. He stopped in the doorway at Tsume's request. "What should I know about the girl, and how come it too a whole month for you to approach the Inuzuka clan?"

The shinobi didn't turn as he answered. "Her name is Ogawa Lutra, and she is the daughter of Ogawa Shun and Ogawa Miharu. She is six years old, and appears to have inherited the family kekkei genkai very strongly. The reason we did not make contact as soon as we knew of Miharu's death is because we only found out that she existed two weeks ago, when she submitted, in surprisingly good handwriting, a benefits form concerning her new status as an orphan of ninja parents."

Tsume stared open-mouthed at the back of his head for a moment, and then regained her composure. "Didn't know she existed? How?"

Shrugging, the shinobi answered, "Nin aren't registered on the village documents until they start their education, and the Ogawa clan prefer not to declare children to the civil authorities. And I'm sure you, of all people, know how hard it is to find them without their approval." With that, he left.

Tight-lipped, Tsume turned to Sarutobi. She looked distinctly like she wanted to maul the indifferent shinobi. "Weren't aware of her existence," she said angrily.

"Tsume…"

She sighed. "I'm sorry, Hokage-sama. I will leave to make preparations for… Lutra's arrival, and then in two days I will leave for Kirigakure." She bowed, and then left the room, fists clenched and still muttering.

Sarutobi looked after her sympathetically, and wished that the village felt the same way about a certain, small blond boy.

* * *

My first relatively serious Naruto fanfic; please let me know what you like or dislike! I can take harsh criticism, just so long as it's not pure abuse. I'm new to the site, but I'll try and get back to reviewers if I can work out how.


	2. Orphan

The Naruto characters (c) Masashi Kishimoto.

Ogawa Lutra (c) me, Lutra-Gem

* * *

Tsume and her nin-dog, Kuromaru, were met by the same shinobi a week later after they had registered their presence in Kirigakure. He gave them an address and directions, which Tsume declined when she realised that the address was her late cousins' house, which she had visited before. A chuunin was to meet her there, with a packed and prepared child.

She briskly walked through the village, chilly and misty as usual, and ignored the strange looks she and her massive companion received. When an over-zealous genin challenged her right to be in the village, she calmly explained that she was carrying out a mission i_for/i_ the village, and pushed past the stunned girl.

On turning onto the street where the Ogawa compound was located, Tsume immediately focused on the fidgety chuunin standing by the entrance. As she strode up, he looked distinctly relieved.

"Inuzuka-san?"

"That's me."

"Thank Kami. The child is ready to go, as per orders."

Tsume glanced around. "And where would she happen to be?"

The chuunin jumped and looked alarmed. "She's not here? Oh crap, ah… umm…"

A slight tug on the leg of her shorts prompted Tsume to look down.

She struggled to keep her eyes focused on the child as she tried to take in the details, and crouched down, placing a hand on her head to help reduce the effects of the kekkei genkai.

Plain. Brown hair, slightly tangled. Green eyes. Pale skin, grubby in places. There were a few small stains on the black top and navy shorts she wore. Tsume sniffed, and realised that there was a confused smell of dirt and soap, where the girl had tried as well as she could to keep herself clean.

"Hi, Lutra," Tsume said. "I'm Inuzuka Tsume, and I'm the cousin of your parents. Sorry for not noticing you down here!" She laughed. "My pack will be looking after you from now on." The girl regarded her silently, but she got a sense of acknowledgement from her. The she looked up at the chuunin, irritation on her features. "Who's been looking after her?"

The chuunin shrugged.

Tsume growled at him, and then took one of Lutra's hands. "Come on, Lutra. If _I_ start ignoring you, make sure you get my attention, okay?"

The girl did not respond, but dutifully followed her new guardian as they left behind the Ogawa compound and the village of her birth.

*

Tsume had managed to lose track of the girl at least once a day, even on the boat from the Mist Country, and was certain that if she hadn't asked Kuromaru to carry her, Lutra would have been left wandering until she found either civilisation or death.

It wasn't that she meant to.

That was the Ogawa kekkei genkai.

_Gimantekimuu._ Deceptive existence.

It rendered the person virtually invisible. Technically, they were still visible, but for the most part they were simply another face in the crowd, or nothing worth noticing. The eye, or indeed any other sense, seemed just to pass over them unintentionally. A reverse-doujutsu as such.

It was also impossible to completely deactivate.

This made it difficult to focus on any members of the Ogawa clan, even when they reduced the strength of the jutsu. Physical contact was necessary for most to focus on them for any length of time. This had lead to them developing jutsu that allowed these barriers to be broken to individuals, although Tsume had no knowledge of what they were, how they worked or whether Lutra had mastered any of them. At the least, it certainly seemed that she hadn't, or was choosing to refrain from using them.

The girl had only spoken out of politeness, to answer yes or no questions or to thank her. She hadn't answered any of the questions of a personal nature, but listened courteously when Tsume filled the silences with chatter about her own pack, especially about her own two pups: Hana, who was twelve, was about to graduate from the academy, and showed a lot of promise in working with the dogs of the family, possibly even medically; and Kiba, who was boisterous and loud but was a good kid at heart, and was a few months older than Lutra.

On returning to Konohagakure, they reported in to the Hokage, and he welcomed Lutra to the village. She had bowed respectfully and thanked him, but otherwise remained silent. Afterwards, they returned to the Inuzuka household, where Tsume had almost immediately given her a bath to get rid of the dirt that had accumulated on their way back from Kirigakure, in addition to that already on her. Then she had changed her clothes, been introduced to the dogs, who after sniffing her once ignored her, and was then shown to the room she would be sharing with Hana. It was as Tsume was about to leave Lutra to fully unpack her few belongings that the girl spoke unprompted for the first time.

"Tsume-oba-sama." Tsume turned in the doorway, surprised that Lutra was speaking. "Please, you and your family don't need to use your chakra up to look for me all the time. Even Otou-san couldn't find me sometimes. If… if you can make sure that there's food and … ne-necess- things I need, then I can look after myself." The tiny girl looked deadly serious, and it was hard to believe that she was only just six years old.

Tsume smiled. "I'll try to look after you better than that, but if I don't and you need something, just make sure you get my attention, okay?" The girl thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Dinner's at seven," Tsume told her, and then left, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated!

Translations for those of you unfamiliar with the Japanese terms I'm using:

_Kirigakure_ - Village Hidden in the Mist  
_Chuunin_ - middle class ninja  
_Genin_ - low class ninja  
_Kunoichi_ - female ninja  
_Shinobi_ - male ninja  
_Kekkei genkai_ - bloodline limit (a technique that can only be used by those with a specific bloodline, or with the transfer of relevant organs)  
_Doujutsu_ - eye technique/jutsu  
_-san_ - honorific of general respect, like Mr or Mrs  
_-sama_ - honorific of a lot of respect


	3. Settling In

The Naruto characters (c) Masashi Kishimoto.

Ogawa Lutra (c) me, Lutra-Gem

* * *

Tsume, unintentionally, did not look after her better than that.

This left Lutra to her own devices for the majority of the time, which she was perfectly content with. She spent the days before she was to be enrolled in the academy wandering the village and the surrounding areas, completely unhindered by any.

She had learnt a long time ago about her family's kekkei genkai, Gimantekimuu, and accepted its repercussions quite happily. Her mother had recently begun to teach her about consciously controlling the strength of the jutsu and how to overcome the barriers it produced, ready for schooling, when she had been killed in action.

Lutra had also been aware of the dangers of the ninja life for a long time, and although it had shocked her somewhat, she had coped with the death of her entire family. Unsure of what to do, she had investigated, and discovered Kiri's benefits system for orphans. Although the offices had been in chaos and confusion due to the mysterious disappearance of the Mizukage, she had been able to acquire, unnoticed as usual, a form and laboriously fill it in. Two days after she had submitted it, a jounin showed up on the doorstep, and things had gone from there.

She was very grateful to Tsume for taking her in. After all, no one else would have looked after her, or made sure she had an education. There was only so much that she could teach herself. The fact that the family ignored her for the most part didn't really bother her much. Hiding from the dogs was good practice at controlling her Gimantekimuu. And it was as Lutra wandered around unnoticed that two incidents occurred that piqued her interest.

*

The first was the case of a small blond boy.

On her second full day in the village, she had been working to memorise the streets and shops in the centre of Konoha, and as she had been making her way down the main street when the people around her had started turning their heads and whispering to each other. Hearing comments like, "It's _that_ boy," and, "Darling, keep away from him," Lutra slipped through the crowd to see what the fuss was about.

A tiny, obviously neglected blond boy trudged down the street. Every time he heard and identified the speakers, he shot an angry scowl at them, causing them to recoil.

Lutra blinked in confusion at the reactions of the villagers. This was just some kid!

"Who is that boy?" someone behind her asked.

"You don't know? That's Uzumaki Naruto, and he's a cursed brat. He's the-"

"Haruhi, you know we're forbidden by law to talk about that!"

"Fine. But so you know, stay away from him; he's dangerous."

The blond – Naruto – glared at the three talking, and he muttered under his breath. "Well, lady, one day I'm gonna be Hokage, so you can shut up." As his eyes passed over Lutra, she gave him a smile; but, like everyone else in the village she had seen so far, he didn't even register her existence, and carried on down the street, hands in his pockets.

Lutra sighed, for once wishing that the Gimantekimuu could be deactivated entirely, and trotted onwards, mulling over reasons for the strange behaviour of the people towards this apparently harmless, under-fed boy.

*

The second incident involved her discovery of one of the doujutsu kekkei genkai in Konoha.

She had been very pleased to find that Konoha had a river and a lake, and on finding the small pier, had made it her favourite place to sit after meandering around the area.

It was the last day of March, the day before the induction of new students to the academy. She was sat on the end of the pier, cooling her feet in the water – Konoha was too warm compared to Kiri – when footsteps came their way towards her. She thought nothing of it, expecting whoever it was to ignore her. She was quite surprised when they stopped and a voice asked her petulantly, "Who are you? You're sitting in my spot." Startled that she had been noticed, Lutra turned to see a small boy, a little younger than her, with dark eyes and hair spiked back. He looked comically annoyed, glaring at her with his arms crossed and tapping a foot on the wooden boards of the pier. The other was bound with a wet cloth around the ankle, like he'd injured it. "Well?" he asked.

She stared at him for a moment, and then turned to pick up her shoes. "My name is Ogawa Lutra," she said, standing up and flicking the water off her feet. "I'm sorry for taking your place, but I'm new here, and I didn't realise." She slipped on her shoes, and bowed apologetically. "I'll go away."

Suddenly on a whim, she decided to try of one of the jutsu her mother had taught her. She briefly touched his arm as she walked past him. i_/ You have good eyes… Uchiha Sasuke. ... See you in school tomorrow. //i_

Then, as his eyes widened, she increased the strength of the Gimantekimuu, and walked away.

Sasuke was left on the pier open-mouthed as he looked around trying to see the strange girl who had just spoken to him.

With her mind.

*

That evening, Lutra wondered about the boy as she lay in bed. She had heard of both of the village's doujutsu kekkei genkai, although she only knew of them through a children's rhyme taught to the Ogawa children.

"Facing white eyes that see through all,

Don't think yourself safe behind your deceptive wall.

The owners of these can see you and I,

The possessors of the Byakugan eye.

Facing red eyes and black tomoe,

Run away, flee away, speed away, hide away,

Even we, to them, will be no surprise,

The possessors of the Sharingan eyes."

It was supposed to be a warning that there were those who could see through the Gimantekimuu. However, further details of the users, such as the clans with the abilities, and tactics to combat them weren't taught until genin level, and then by a senior Ogawa nin.

That probably wasn't going to happen.

It was also the first time that she'd tried to use the jutsu on someone out of the family. The concept was simple.

If the senses didn't send messages to the brain confirming the existence of something, then the obvious way to communicate was to bypass the senses entirely and go straight to the mind. The simplest method was to create a dispelling seal on the body of the user, activated by contact with another, and send messages through the chakra system. Information and messages on the chakra system could also be read. There were variants that increased in complexity and effectiveness, but those were going to have to be self-taught.

Lutra sighed, and tried to go to sleep.

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated!

Translations:

_Mizukage_ - Kirigakure's equivalent to Hokage  
_Tomoe_ - lit. "huge comma design" - the little comma shapes in the Sharingan.


	4. Enrolment Ceremony

The Naruto characters (c) Masashi Kishimoto.

Ogawa Lutra (c) me, Lutra-Gem

_Text like this is thought or stressed; the context should make it clear._

_/ Text like this is psychically communicated. /_

* * *

The next morning, Lutra followed Tsume and Kiba to the academy for the enrolment ceremony. Because Tsume was now her legal guardian, she was acting as the family member for both children. Kiba was bouncing up and down like he was high on sugar, gabbling on about how he was going to be the best ninja the Inuzuka clan had ever had, and how he'd help the pack by being so awesome, and how he'd outdo Hana, and how he'd make his mum proud, and… Lutra merely smiled at his antics, already completely used to the loud, rash but well-intentioned boy. He hadn't sensed her presence _once_ – apart from when the two were forced to shake hands at introductions – unlike that Uchiha boy…

They turned into the academy, and Tsume checked off both Kiba and Lutra's names on the list of entrants; even if the others couldn't sense Lutra, Tsume had activated her hanajutsu, and knew that she was there. The chuunin looking after the list blinked, as he only saw one child, but waved Tsume on.

As Lutra took her place in the playground, she took the opportunity to look around at the other entrants to the academy. They were lined up in alphabetical order, in nine lines of ten students. She was standing near the back of the fifth line, behind a bored-looking boy who was staring skywards, hands in his pockets. His hair, pulled back in a high, spiky ponytail, tickled her face briefly, his head was tilted so far back. She giggled slightly, and took a step backwards, but he merely continued looking up at the clouds.

She could see Kiba a few lines over, fidgeting behind a tiny, blue-haired girl, whose eyes were fixed on the ground as a tall, long-haired man spoke to her. Lutra balked slightly when the man moved away from the girl, and looked directly at her. _He has white eyes!_ Then his gaze moved onwards disdainfully, and she relaxed a little.

Looking in the other direction, she could see Uchiha Sasuke. He looked… uncomfortable. Underneath the obvious irritation yesterday, he had felt upset at something, although she hadn't probed any further into his mind to discover what the cause was. Now he was standing stock-still, his eyes flitting around distractedly. Lutra scanned the crowd for whoever was with him, and located the most likely candidate. A rather stern-looking man, he had his arms folded and his eyes closed, and certainly didn't seem to be focusing on the events around him.

To her surprise, the scrawny blond kid was standing behind the Uchiha, looking quite pleased with himself despite the glares of the parents and the hostile glances of some of the children. Lutra hadn't seen anyone in the crowd who resembled him at all, but she looked again to see if there was anyone watching him without a glare. Nobody was.

Maybe he was like her.

Or maybe he didn't have anyone at all.

When Lutra glanced over at Tsume, her gaze was mainly directed at Kiba, but it did slip to Lutra once while she watched, accompanied by a smile. Lutra smiled back, a little shyly, but then turned as a chuunin called for silence.

What followed was a series of speeches and introductions from the teachers, whose names Lutra memorised. Then the Hokage spoke for a little, finishing with, "Everyone, congratulations on entering, From this day forth, please work hard to follow the shinobi way." With that, everyone applauded him politely, and then began to break up, children rushing back to parents excitedly. Some of them – the Uchiha and his father included – went to speak with the teachers, while others chatted avidly to each other.

Somewhat unsure of what to do, Lutra remained where she was while people pushed past her. She noticed with concern that the blond – Naruto – also stood in his place while the other children went to their parents and avoided him.

Looking in the other direction, she was surprised to see that the blue-haired girl was also standing where she had before, but actually looking at Lutra. She had the same white eyes as the man who had been talking to her earlier. Lutra smiled shyly at her, and was perturbed when the girl started to return it, then stopped and averted her eyes.

Then a shadow fell over Lutra, and she looked upwards to see that the white-eyed man was leaning over her. He did not look friendly. Choosing courtesy to cover her fear, she turned to face him properly, and bowed respectfully. "Konnichiwa, O-sama," she said.

He looked at her coldly, and then swept past to the girl. "Come, Hinata," he demanded, and the girl jumped nervously.

"H-hai, Otou-s-san!" She glanced back at Lutra, and then hurried after her father as he went to talk to the Hokage. While Lutra couldn't hear the conversation, it certainly didn't seem to be pleasant, as the girl's head sank lower and lower.

Suddenly a bell rang out, and the teachers started calling out for the children to be quiet while the classes were read out. The children turned from their parents to listen. The first teacher, a rather jolly-looking, slightly chubby man, who had been talking to the Uchiha – a Koimaru, if Lutra remembered correctly – shouted out, "Class 1, in a line over here, alphabetical order please! Aburame Shino! Akimichi Chouji!" The list went on, and Lutra found herself behind the same boy as before. He still looked bored. Then the teacher called for the students to follow him, and they walked into the academy where they would become ninja.

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated!

Translations:

_O-sama_ - general address of formality to an unknown person  
_Otou-san_ - Father


	5. Introductions

The Naruto characters (c) Masashi Kishimoto.

Ogawa Lutra (c) me, Lutra-Gem

* * *

The pupils were brought into a classroom, but instead of taking seats at the obviously well-used desks, they were lead to the area at the front of the classroom, and instructed to sit down in a circle, still in order. Then to fill in the space between the first and last person, the teacher plopped himself down on the floor with them. He beamed around at the class.

"Well!" he said. "Welcome to the academy! I'm Mizure Koimaru, and I'll be your teacher for this year. Now, I want to get everyone to know each other, so I want you to say what your name is, something interesting about yourself and something you'd like to do in the future. Then I want to next person in the circle to repeat everything that's been said before, and then talk about themselves, then moving on again, and so on. Do you understand?" There was generally nodding around the class, although there were some scowls.

"Tch. How troublesome." This came from the boy next to Lutra.

"Why do we have to do this? It's babyish, and you should be teaching us to be ninja!" Lutra looked back towards the teacher, and saw that, three places from him, Uchiha Sasuke was pouting again, looking annoyed. Next to him, the blond kid folded his arms and nodded.

"Yeah, sensei! I'm gonna be Hokage someday. I don't need to waste time playing games!"

The teacher remained smiling, but seemed to refuse to look at the blond. "I am here to teach you all to be ninja. But ninja need to be able to rely on each other, and work as teams. The first step towards that is knowing your fellow students. This is also a good way to practise learning by listening. So," he said, looking down at the boy next to him, who had remained silent up to this point. "We'll start with you."

The boy, whose eyes were covered by black glasses, did not move anything more than his lips while he spoke. "My name is Aburame Shino. I am very interested in bugs. I would like to become an excellent shinobi and talented user of my family's jutsu."

The teacher shifted a little uncomfortably, but moved onto the next boy, who was… chubby, Lutra decided was the polite way to put it. He was gently prompted by the teacher. "He is…?"

"He is A-bu-ra-me Shi-no, and he is… he likes bugs, and he wants to be an ex-ex-ex-"

"Excellent."

"-shinobi, and a ta-ta-"

"Talented."

"… he wants to be good at his family's jutsu."

The teacher accepted this cop-out. "And you…?"

The boy smiled. "I'm Akimichi Chouji, and I like eating my mum's cooking." A snigger was heard from one of the boys, and Chouji glared at him but continued. "And after I retire from being a ninja, I want to be Konoha's best cook!" He beamed at the class.

The children went on around the circle, each one working progressively harder to remember all of the names, and often compromising quotes for simpler things.

When they reached the blue-haired girl, she carefully and accurately repeated everything before her, albeit with a severe stutter, and then introduced herself. "H-hajime-m-mashite, m-minna-san… M-my name is H-Hyuuga Hinata, and I like d-d-dancing. W-when I am older, I w-would like to b-be-c-come a … a k-kunoichi to m-make the H-Hyuuga cl-clan proud…" She seemed very flustered, looking distinctly upset as she said the last part.

Then it was Kiba's turn, and when he reached Hinata's name, he deliberately imitated her stutter, causing the poor girl to flush bright red in shame. Lutra shot her a sympathetic glance, which she missed as she stared at the floor. He laughed it off, and introduced himself loudly. "I'm Inuzuka Kiba, and I share a house with my parents, sister, a cousin who's never there and four dogs, plus half the family's dogs end up around our place sometime! When I get my own dog, we'll be the best man-dog team the village has ever seen!"

A few turns later, they reached the boy next to her. Given the lack of attention he seemed to be paying, Lutra was surprised when he simply sighed, and repeated everything word for word, introduced himself as Nara Shikamaru, said he likes watching clouds and wanted to go to sleep.

She was amused by his bluntness, and began to speak herself when the person on the other side of her started talking. Glancing at the teacher, she saw that he obviously hadn't registered her presence, sitting there smiling at the girl recalling names.

Lutra was unsurprised.

However, she wasn't the only person to have noticed.

Both Sasuke and Hinata were looking between herself and Koimaru rather confusedly, and Sasuke was about to raise his hand when Lutra smiled and shook her head. He frowned, and Hinata looked concerned, but neither spoke up.

The introductions went without hitch until they reached Sasuke, who looked rebellious. However, on being told that Itachi-sama (whoever that was) had done it, he brightened up considerably, and gave the names and information word for word. "I'm Uchiha Sasuke, and I like training because I want to be as good as my big brother, and when I grow up I'm going to join the police force!" Then, when the blond next to him refused to take part, Sasuke poked him. Naruto turned to glare at Sasuke, who merely looked back at him. "Your turn, silly." The blond glowered, and Sasuke smiled.

Then Naruto jumped up, and defiantly shouted, "I don't need to play silly games, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm gonna be Hokage one day!" A large number of the students tittered or glared at him, and the teacher snapped at him to sit down. He scowled at the class, and reluctantly dropped back to the floor. Then, catching sight of Sasuke smiling again, he started having a go at the dark-haired boy. "What are you smiling at?"

Sasuke blinked. "You," he answered honestly, without malice.

"Yeah? Well, you people all think you're so much better than me, you're the ones who are stupid!"

Sasuke, previously unaggressive, was now riled. "If you can't even try in a simple game, you're the stupid one."

"Bastard!"

"Stupid."

"Naruto, stop arguing with Sasuke-kun!" Koimaru said. Lutra raised her eyebrows, noticing the lack of an honorific for Naruto, and the one-sided reprimand. This rudeness was obviously not lost on everyone, and the Hyuuga girl frowned slightly.

The circle was completed by a blonde girl who said she like flowers, and then Koimaru sent them back around the other way, this time saying something the didn't like and their favourite food. Naruto immediately chose Sasuke as the thing he disliked, and proclaimed his love for ramen. Sasuke responded in kind, saying he didn't like Naruto, and the blond swore at him. Sasuke merely smirked, and was rather surprised when the boy launched himself at him, trying to pin him to the ground.

He reacted almost immediately, untwisting his legs from their crossed position, jerking them upwards as he rolled backwards, sending the blond crashing head-over-heels into the space rapidly vacated by two quick children.

Kiba jumped up, and started shouting. "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Several other boys joined in, clapping.

"Naruto! Out of the classroom now!" the teacher said, stabbing a finger at the door. "And you boys, sit down and be quiet!"

"But-" Naruto tried to object as he prised himself off the floor.

"No! You do not fight against your fellow nin outside of sparring!"

Standing up, Naruto rubbed the back of his head where it had made contact with the floor. "Bastard-sensei," he said under his breath as he turned to the door.

"That does it! After-school detention!" All jollity was lost from the teacher as he dealt out the punishment.

Naruto stomped sulkily out of the classroom, a scowl plastered on his features, earning a few titters from the class. Before closing the door, he shot one last glare at Sasuke, who had just flipped himself back up into his sitting position. It was returned by an infuriatingly innocent smile. Then he slammed the door shut.

Lutra looked back around the circle, and was rather unsettled to see so many smiles at the boy's punishment. A few admiring glances were also being sent Sasuke's way – mainly by the girls – but he was ignoring them, staring at the door Naruto had just slammed without any trace of a smile on his face any more. Hinata was also frowning slightly at the door.

The teacher then gave the class a brief lecture on behaviour, and then set the game off again. It finished without noticeable incident, although Lutra was missed out again. This time Sasuke and Hinata were too busy staring at the door to notice, and Hinata nearly missed her turn.

The teacher then sent the class to choose seats, not minding who sat next to who. Lutra followed Hinata, who sat herself near the back, but stiffened when she saw Lutra again. Lutra blanched, suddenly afraid of rejection from one of the only people who had noticed her. "Hyuuga Hinata, right?" The girl nodded. "Um… is this seat taken?"

The blue-haired girl shook her head slightly. "D-damme. N-nob-body has t-taken that s-seat." For a six-year-old with a stutter, she spoke very formally, and with a cultured accent.

Lutra smiled. "Then do you mind if I sit here?"

After a slight pause, the girl shook her head again. "D-damme." Lutra slid herself into the seat next to her. Hinata looked down. "Gomen nasai," she said, Lutra looked curiously at her, not sure what the apology was for. "O-Otou-san… H-he obj-jected t-to your p-p-presence, as h-he s-said you w-were from K-Kiri-g-gakure." She started fidgeting with her hands. "B-but then, Otou-san ob-objects to m-most things," she said quietly. Then she looked up at Lutra. "Go-gomennasai, I do not know your name. Th-they," she said with a slight frown, "they missed you out."

"Ogawa Lutra, from Kirigakure, like your father said," Lutra introduced herself. "I'm here because I'm an orphan, but related to the Inuzuka. And why they missed me out…" she said, tapping the side of her nose. "That's more than I can explain before the less-" she broke off as the classroom door slid open, and Naruto was frogmarched back in by a slightly irritated looking teacher. It wasn't clear whether his annoyance was directed at Naruto or Koimaru.

Koimaru introduced the teacher as Umino Iruka, who nodded at the class before having a hushed but clearly annoyed discussion. It ended with Koimaru reluctantly pointing Naruto to a seat next to the Aburame boy, well away from Sasuke, who had ended up in front of Lutra and Hinata and next to Kiba. Iruka looked satisfied, and left the classroom, smiling at Naruto. The blond boy blinked in surprise, but then grinned at the door as it closed. "Thanks Iruka-sensei!" he shouted. Then he sauntered over to the seat, and sat there smiling.

Lutra turned back to Hinata to finish what she had been saying, but stopped as she saw the girl was still staring at the blond. She tilted her head, watching the girl's face, and then smiled in faint realisation. _Aww… I think she likes him_. then she poked her gently, both snapping her back to reality with a start and confirming the sense of happiness.

"Ah! G-gomennasai," she said.

"Don't worry. I was just going to say," she said, raising her voice slightly, "that I would take questions of that nature at break. That goes for the eavesdroppers too."

The Uchiha in front of them started slightly, but nodded in recognition.

The teacher then started talking about assessing the students' current abilities, and the class got down to work.

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated!

Translations:

_Hajime mashite_ - (Part of the old "pleased to meet you" ritual. It means "for the first time", but when you are being introduced it means "I think I've never seen you before". )  
_Minna_ - everyone  
_Gomen/Gomennasai_ - I beg your pardon (sorry)  
_Damme_ - No


	6. First Friends

The Naruto characters (c) Masashi Kishimoto.

Ogawa Lutra (c) me, Lutra-Gem

_Text like this is thought._

_/ Text like this is psychically communicated. /_

* * *

The bell rang for break, and Koimaru dismissed the class. Sasuke packed away his belongings, and got up to leave the class. He casually sauntered up the steps to the door, glancing at the girls sitting behind him and the Inuzuka as he passed them. The strange one – Lutra – nodded slightly at him as she saw, and continued putting her possessions back in her bag.

As he walked out of the door, he heard a couple of boys talking.

"That kid's an Uchiha, right?"

"Yeah."

"So that means he must be awesome, eh?"

Sasuke felt a sense of pride wash over him as he thought of just how amazing his brother was, and how everyone knew that the Uchiha clan was great. Then he felt a little sad as he thought about how his father gave Itachi so much preferential treatment, and expected Sasuke to be like him. Then he smiled, remembering how Itachi was on a mission that would get him into ANBU, and silently wished him a little luck.

Sasuke looked around the playground, taking in the various areas. The main yard. A few trees and some swings were in a corner. Some benches were placed around the edges of the playground, and Sasuke picked one in the shade of some trees, visible from the entrance to the school. Other children began to come out as he walked over to it, some of them much older than him; the school took students until they became genin, although they normally didn't let students remain after failing the exam after their fifth go at sixteen. There didn't seem to be any that old around this year, unless they were still inside. Sasuke sat down on the bench, and waited.

Hearing a giggling noise, he looked up to see some of the girls in his class standing a little way away, chatting excitedly. He watched them disinterestedly, until one of them – a blonde, Yamanaka Ino if he remembered correctly – looked over at him, turned back to the group and started whispering and giggling. He then kept a cautious eye on them, not entirely sure how to react to this strange behaviour. It made him a little uncomfortable, to say the least.

A moment later, Lutra and Hinata sat down next to him, and the girls turned to stare at the Hyuuga, making her hang her head in embarrassment. Lutra whispered, "Ignore them, Hinata-chan. If it makes you feel any better, get out a book and pretend to read. Then they won't think anything of it." Hinata opened her bag, which she had brought with her, and got out a book on basic genjutsu, and pretended to read.

"Arig-gat-tou, Lutra-san," she said, looking a little less uncomfortable.

Lutra waved it off. "You don't need to be so formal, Hinata-chan." Then she looked between Sasuke and Hinata. "So… what do you want to know? I can't answer everything, but I'll try."

Sasuke kept his eyes on the gaggle of girls as he spoke, thinking carefully over what he wanted to know. "Ogawa Lutra, right?"

"Yup."

"That's not a name from Konoha."

"Nope. That's because I'm from Kiri."

Sasuke frowned. "Then… why are you here?"

"Got orphaned." The girl said it so bluntly that Sasuke turned to stare at her, shocked, before then feigning interest in his surroundings again. "However, I'm related by blood to the Inuzuka, so they were asked to take me in. I'm the cousin Kiba-hatoko-kun claims is never there," she said, looking a little embarrassed on behalf of the oblivious boy.

Sasuke was silent for a moment as he thought that over. Then he nodded. "'kay. So why is it only me and Hyuuga-sama who can see you?"

Lutra blinked, and then turned to look at the blue-haired girl, who was still 'reading' her book. "_Hyuuga-sama?"_

Hinata blushed. "H-Hai. Uchiha-s-sama is c-correct. A-as I am th-the heir-ress to th-the nob-ble H-Hyuuga clan, m-most p-p-people are exp-pected to ad-address me f-formally. A-as a ch-child of th-the h-head of the Uch-chiha cl-clan, I sh-should also ad-address Uchiha-s-sama f-formally."

Lutra tilted her head around so that she was leaning in front of the blue-haired girl, and although Sasuke couldn't see her face, when she spoke she sounded a little concerned. "And do want you us to call you Hyuuga-sama?"

Hinata was silent for a moment, but then shook her head almost imperceptibly. "Damme," she said quietly. "I-it s-sounds … cold."

"Hinata-chan it is then. And you," she said, turning to face Sasuke, "what do you want us to call you?"

Sasuke blinked, and then shrugged. He didn't really expect people to call him anything fancy; that was for his father, and maybe for his brother, but not for him, who was barely acknowledged by the stern head of the clan. "I'm fine with Sasuke-kun or Sasuke."

"Then we're settled."

"You still haven't answered my question."

"I haven't, have I?" Sasuke frowned a little as Lutra settled herself more comfortably on the bench. "Okay, I'm going to assume that you guys come from the families with the Sharingan and Byakugan kekkei genkai." Sasuke nodded, and saw Hinata mimicking the action. "Then you know how kekkei genkai work." He nodded again. "Well, your kekkei genkai aren't the only ones. My family has one too: the Gimantekimuu, or deceptive existence."

Sasuke was puzzled, not understanding what the brown-haired girl meant. "Deceptive existence?" he asked. "But-"

"It means that people can't sense my presence without the help of jutsu or amazingly good sense. Or…" she trailed off, and Sasuke saw that she was looking a little frustrated as she worked out how to explain it. "It's more complicated than that. It's not that they can't, it's just that… they don't. They ignore me. It's like… if you look at a forest, you don't notice each tree – they just blend into a bunch of trees. So they look but they don't see, if that makes sense. I'm just another face in the crowd, another kid in the class. They won't pay me any attention without prompting or a reason. You guys can see me because you have doujutsu kekkei genkai; and even without activation, your eyesight is good enough to be able to focus on me." Lutra was then quiet for a little while as she let Sasuke and Hinata take this in.

Sasuke's mind raced as he pondered over what he had been told. It was just… ridiculous. People just… couldn't see her? _That's stupid. But then… she did 'vanish' yesterday… what did she-_

His thoughts were interrupted by Hyuu- Hinata quietly asking Lutra, "S-so n-nobody knows you e-even ex-xist?"

Lutra shook her head gently. "A few people know. Tsume-oba-sama makes sure that I have what I need, and I look after myself. I'm now on record. You guys know. It doesn't bother me too much."

"B-but that's awf-ful!

Lutra shrugged. "Like I said, it doesn't bother me. I've been taught about it since I was able to understand it. I expect to be alone." She smiled a little, and looked at Sasuke and Hinata. "The fact that I have _two_ people in my class who can see me is way more than I could hope for."

Looking down at the ground, Sasuke wondered what it must have been like for the girl to lose her family. He couldn't imagine it at all. Even if Itachi was the star of the clan, most of his family acknowledged him, and to lose that familial friendship… He shuddered, and hoped he'd never have to witness anything close to what the brown-haired girl seemed to be taking in her stride. He didn't think he'd be able to cope. _But then… she wasn't exactly peaceful when… yesterday… _Maybe she wasn't so calm about it.

His face must have conveyed some of his discomfort without his realisation, as Lutra turned to look at him. He blinked, and then tried to work out how to phrase the question about…what she'd done the day before. "Ah… How…" He trailed off, perplexed as to how to put it without sounding idiotic. _Like that blond twit, Naruto…_ He had noticed that the kid was sitting on his own on one of the swings hanging from a tree, watching the world sadly. Sasuke had tried to put him out of his mind, but had found he was thinking about the boy again.

He was jerked back to the conversation when Lutra gently placed a hand on his wrist.

_/ You want to know how I did this, right? /_

Sasuke flinched as the message passed through his mind in an instant. He nodded outwardly. "Yeah. That."

Hinata looked up. "Sumimasen… Nani?"

As Lutra placed her other hand on Hinata's arm, Sasuke felt a tiny flicker of something in her mind, faint but a little worried. Then it vanished after a tiny flare, and Lutra mentally poked him away. _/ Heey… no peeking. /  
_

_/ You can talk, / _he replied.

_/ That wasn't peeking, that was taking in surface info you weren't hiding. /_

_/ Whatever. /_

The girl laughed aloud, and Sasuke allowed himself a small smile.

A faint echo of Lutra talking to the other girl passed through to him, and she jumped violently, dropping her book, and stared at Lutra, white eyes wide with shock. "N-nani? How?"

Lutra removed her hands from the two of them, and looked downwards at her lap. She sighed, and tried to explain. "It's complicated, and to be honest, I need to read up on a lot of it. But the idea is that if the brain doesn't notice something via the senses, then you have to send messages to it directly." Sasuke frowned a little, not certain what she meant, and saw that the blue-haired girl looked as clueless as he felt. Lutra looked skywards for inspiration. "Um, how to put it… Oh! It's like knowing the postmen are on strike, so you hand-deliver a letter. Does that make more sense?" Sasuke's expression cleared up in enlightenment, the silly comparison making it surprisingly easy to understand. He nodded, and Lutra looked relieved. "Good. Well, my family's jutsu to overcome the Gimantekimuu is basically mind-communication, and bonds to dispel the effects. We call them Kiton – mind style – even though it isn't an element. Messages are sent though the chakra system by bonds, so we can talk and exchange information with others even if they wouldn't normally see or hear us. Pretty cool, huh?"

Feigning indifference to cover his jealousy at such a cool technique, Sasuke sniffed and looked back over the playground… to see the blond kid looking really depressed. He even considered getting up to see if he was okay, but…

"You're t-telep-path-thic?"

"I guess. But it's all jutsu."

"Sugoi…" the blue-haired girl breathed out in awe.

"Huh." Sasuke folded his arms. "Well, I guess that's pretty cool. But you don't stand a chance against the Sharingan or Byakugan, right?"

"Right." The bell rang to call the students back to class, and Lutra stood up. "If you guys wanted to kill me, I'd be dead." She turned back to the two, who were also getting up. "But I don't want to be enemies with the only people who'll notice me." She looked a little resigned, and Sasuke felt a little stab of sadness for her, but then she smiled again, and held out a hand. "Friends?"

Sasuke and Hinata both stared at the hand for a moment, as they considered her. _She seems a really nice person… And ignoring the fact that she talks mind-to-mind, she's not creeping me out, unlike those girls over there… and the Hyuuga girl seems okay as well. I hope she doesn't turn out too much like her dad though. …I'll take a chance._ He stepped forward, and took her hand. "Friends."

_/ Thank you, Sasuke. /_ He felt her gratitude as her mind touched his lightly, and he smiled. Then she let go of his hand, and turned to Hinata, again offering her hand.

Hinata shyly took it, and nodded. "Hai. Friends."

Then the bell rang again, and the three hurried back to class.

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated!

Translations:

_Arigatou_ - Thank you  
_Hotoko_ - second cousin  
_Oba/Obasama_ - Aunt  
_Sumimasen_ - 'sorry; excuse me; thank you' in this case, 'excuse me'  
_Nani?_ - What?  
_Sugoi_ - Amazing  
_Hai_ - Yes  
_-chan_ - general honorific, often used for young/familiar girls  
_-kun_ - general honorific, often used for young/familiar boys


	7. Initial Assessments

The Naruto characters (c) Masashi Kishimoto.

Ogawa Lutra (c) me, Lutra-Gem

_Text like this is thought._

_/ Text like this is psychically communicated. /_

* * *

After break, they went through some simple mathematic and literacy skills tests, and although Sasuke found very little too tricky in the papers, when glancing around the class after he was finished he was a little surprised to see so many people looking stumped at the exam. Cautiously looking behind him while the teacher was sorting the papers for the next test, Sasuke had seen that Hinata and Lutra were finished more than ten minutes before the end of the assessment. They appeared to be some of the more intelligent people in the class. Turning back to his own desk, he resisted the urge to smirk when he saw the boy next to him – Inuzuka Kiba – was stuck on a multiplication question and was counting on his fingers, mouthing the numbers as he went.

After lunch, the assessments continued. However, these ones were of more practical skills for ninja: stamina tests, shuriken throwing and sparring.

Firstly, they were lead back into the playground, getting a sigh from some of the students. Koimaru then marked out a twenty-five metre length in the courtyard, and told all of them to run up and down as many times as they could at a reasonable pace. Some of the boys dashed off, Naruto and Kiba included, and Sasuke saw Lutra shake her head out of the corner of his eye as he set off at a moderate pace, smart enough to know he would wind himself if he ran too fast. However, some of the students did the opposite, ambling reluctantly along until they were ordered to run.

After a few lengths heading the group of sensible runners, Sasuke started to pull ahead as the rest started to slow down. Looking around, he realised that the only one of the students who dashed off was still running: Naruto. The others were all sitting at one end of the track, bent over with stitches and trying to catch their breath.

Soon, only Sasuke and Naruto were running, and Sasuke was trying not to admit that he was impressed by the blond's stamina, when said blond punched the air, shouted, "Twenty lengths!" and tripped, falling flat on his face. The class burst into laughter, with the exceptions of Hinata, who looked appalled; Lutra, who glared at the teacher when he calmly noted down the total and summarily ignored the boy; and Sasuke, who was too out of breath to do anything but run if he was going to beat that clumsy twit.

Naruto lifted his face, grinning and laughing with the rest of the class. Then he rolled himself over so he was sitting, and closed his eyes.

Sasuke drew to a stop. "Twenty-two," he told the teacher breathlessly, and as Koimaru noted it down and started to shepherd the applauding class to the target range, he just stood next to the blond, trying to catch his breath.

Naruto tried to get up to follow the class. As he tried to put weight on his right leg, it twisted under him, his knee slamming back down on the ground, and as Sasuke straightened up he saw a grimace of pain cross the previously smiling face.

Sasuke looked at him, feeling a little sorry for Naruto, and extended a hand. The blond blinked as the hand entered his field of vision, but after glancing up at the owner he looked away stubbornly. "I'm fine, teme, I don't need your help!" He tried to get up again, but this time before his leg gave way Sasuke grabbed his arm.

"Moron. You don't have to be so stubborn, you'll get hurt."

The whiskered face stared up at him, looking as surprised as he felt at what he'd just said. Then Naruto scowled. "Oi, teme, I'm not a moron!"

"Only a moron would try and walk on an injured leg and refuse help."

"Oh yeah? Well… hmph." Naruto looked away again, but Sasuke could see a smile twitching the corners of the boy's mouth upwards.

Sasuke hid his own smile and sighed. "Come on," he said, tugging Naruto in the direction the rest of the class had gone. "Or they'll start without us, …dobe."

"Teme."

"Whatever."

Sasuke helped Naruto around to the back of the school building, where the teacher had just finished explaining the assessment. As the Aburame boy stepped forward onto the range, Sasuke let go of Naruto's arm, given that his injury seemed to have vanished already, and looked at Lutra questioningly.

"Six shuriken, that target, try and hit a bull's-eye," she said.

Sasuke nodded, and repeated the instructions to Naruto, who hadn't noticed her or her words and was about to yell at the teacher to tell him what was going on. Naruto shut up and grinned, probably eager to show off what he must presume to be his 'awesome ninja-skills'. Snorting softly, Sasuke turned to watch as he waited for his turn.

The process went fairly slowly, as Koimaru had to total up all of the scores and make notes on each student's technique. A cheer went up from the class whenever anyone hit a bull's-eye or close to one, although nobody really noticed when Lutra was called up and hit a chance one, her other five shuriken landing in the outer circles. The teacher looked completely stumped, both when he called out her name from his list, and when it came down to writing notes. _Is she really that hard to notice?_ Sasuke wondered as he saw Koimaru's puzzled expression. However, the teacher totalled up the points scored, wrote it down, and called up the next student. As Lutra came back to stand between Sasuke and Hinata, he gave her a pointed look.

She shrugged. "I told you they need prompting and hardly notice me anyway," she said, a neutral expression on her face. Sasuke frowned, but went back to watching the other students.

"Uchiha Sasuke!"

Sasuke walked forward, taking the practice shuriken from the teacher. Settling into the textbook throwing stance, he paused a moment, testing the weight of the projectiles – slightly lighter than the ones Itachi-niisan let him use, he thought – and ignored the twinge in his left ankle reminding him of the last time he practiced throwing dangerous objects the day before. The he collected himself, and threw all six shuriken in quick succession, each one making a satisfying _thok_ as the points buried themselves deeply in the target. A tight but pleased smile on his face, Sasuke turned to go back to his place, two bull's-eyes and four near misses behind him.

After a moment of stunned silence, the class burst into applause and whoops. The teacher gave Sasuke an approving smile before shushing the class and calling Naruto up. The blond scowled a little at Sasuke as he walked past, but Sasuke merely smiled at him.

The class sniggered as Naruto comically tried to imitate Sasuke, failing magnificently. Even Sasuke smiled a little at how awful the clown was. Then, with a flourish, the blond threw his shuriken forcefully at the target. He paused as only two of the six throwing-stars hit the target, and only one of those was anywhere near the centre. Then he turned to the class, a grin on his face and scratching the back of his head. "Eheheh… I meant to miss that! All of them hit where I aimed, 'cos going for more different targets shows I'm an awesome ninja!" The class laughed at that, although the teacher looked disapproving, and Naruto joined in as well, sucking up the attention. Sasuke shook his head, pretending to be annoyed with the blond, when a genuinely serious face caught his eye.

Lutra had her eyes narrowed as she watched Naruto laughing, although she didn't look angry, just… thoughtful. Sasuke nudged her. "What is it?" The girl's eyes narrowed further, but then she shook her head and put on a neutral expression.

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

Sasuke did worry about it. But he didn't say anything.

Once the last person had taken their turn, Koimaru-sensei announced that the last part of the assessments would be a two-minute sparring session with another student in the class. Punches were to be pulled, and no serious damage was allowed to be inflicted, but otherwise there were no rules, other than that if one person gave up the other must stop fighting immediately.

Some of the fights were… interesting, Sasuke mused. Some were quite dull, like most of those between the girls, although he became somewhat uncomfortable when the self-declared 'winners' started looking over at him, trying to get his attention. He tried to ignore them, but they creeped him out. He was not interested in girls.

However, some of the matches were interesting to watch. His newfound companions Lutra and Hinata were paired up, and while neither of them exactly landed a hit on the other, their styles of fighting were mesmerising. Sasuke knew about the Hyuuga's Jyuuken style, but had never seen it in action before, and marvelled at how fluid and fast it was, even more surprised when he found out afterwards that she'd only been learning for a few months and was still very slow. Lutra's style… wasn't a fixed style that Sasuke could think of, and seemed more like improvised dancing. Whatever it was, it was fast and, when developed, looked like it could be pretty deadly.

The other match that piqued Sasuke's interest was the one between Naruto and the Inuzuka boy. They seemed to fight quite similarly, both going for hard fast moves, quite wild really. Kiba seemed to employ more wrestling techniques though, while Naruto used his legs for kicks more. The two seemed matched in skill overall, although in different areas, but it was fairly clear that Kiba was stronger and had some experience of fighting. The fight ended after two minutes, Naruto having taken the worst of it despite the rule of pulling punches.

Sasuke's own fight was unremarkable. He clearly outmatched his opponent, and landed several 'strikes' while guarding against attacks. On each 'hit', several people whooped, and one or two of the girls called out encouragement to him. He ignored them.

After all fifteen matches, the bell rang again, and Koimaru dismissed them for the day.

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated!

Translations:

_Teme_ - A rude way of saying 'you', used by young males, but often associated with meaning 'bastard' at least in the Naruto-verse. Come on, most of you will have heard Naruto call Sasuke 'Sasuke-teme' sometime. It's like his nickname for him.  
_Dobe_ - lowest ranking; worst (e.g. in a test) - Sasuke sometimes calls Naruto this in the series.


	8. Going Home

The Naruto characters (c) Masashi Kishimoto.

Ogawa Lutra, Genshu Takahiro and the random Inuzuka (like Ami) and their dogs (like Byakuko) (c) me, Lutra-Gem

* * *

When Sasuke got home after school, he was in high spirits. He'd officially started on the path to becoming a ninja, seemed to be the best in his class and had made some friends. He dashed home, a smile on his face, eager to tell his family about his day. He skidded to a stop outside his house, hurriedly took off his sandals and rushed into the kitchen where he threw his arms around his mother's waist, knocking her into one of the kitchen cupboards. "I'm home!" he said, smiling up at her.

His mother, Mikoto, looked down. "I think I can see that, Sasuke-kun, and the sharp pain in my knees is telling me that you're very excited about something!"

Sasuke's smile dropped and his eyes widened. "I'm sorry, Kaa-san!" he said, looking the picture of sorrow. "I didn't mean to hurt you!" He let go of Mikoto, a smile creeping back onto his face as he spun himself around on the balls of his feet. "I was just really really happy!"

Mikoto smiled, and washed her hands, Sasuke still spinning himself. "Don't worry, Sasuke-kun, I was only teasing," she said, drying her hands. She turned back to Sasuke, who was now still and pouting. "Mattaku." Taking his hand, she said, "You need to stop taking things so seriously, like your father and Itachi-kun." Mikoto tugged his hand gently. "Come on; you can tell me about your day out in the garden."

The two sat down on the decking outside, where the soft plunk of the deer-chaser and the quiet trickle of water had a calming on influence on Sasuke, mellowing any momentary irritation he had towards his mother. His face was now fairly neutral, although his swinging legs betrayed his happiness.

"So, Sasuke-kun, how was your first day of school?"

Sasuke smiled. "It was great! All the tests were really easy, and even though I don't know how I did on the written ones, I was the best in the class for the running and shuriken tests!"

"Now, why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Because Nii-san taught me?"

"Well, that too, but even Itachi-kun couldn't teach you if you weren't such a talented little boy."

Sasuke blushed a little, pleased by the comment, but pouted as he remembered the adults' views concerning the brothers. "Tou-san wouldn't say that. Everyone thinks I'm amazing because Nii-san is, and they just want me to be like him."

Mikoto pulled Sasuke onto her lap and wrapped her arms around him. "Well," she said, "_I_ know that you're amazing because you're you, not your brother." Sasuke only blushed further at this, and looked away to hide his pleased embarrassment. Mikoto smiled, and then asked, "So, what else happened today?"

"Um… I made some friends?"

"Oh? Who?"

"Ogawa Lutra, Hyuuga Hinata and-" he hesitated, not sure if could call it friendship, "-Uzumaki Naruto."

Mikoto tensed a little as she heard the names. "Ogawa, Hyuuga and Uzumaki." Sasuke nodded. Hesitating, his mother eventually said, "Don't tell you father."

Sasuke blinked. "Why, Kaa-san?"

Sighing, Mikoto replied, "The Uchiha clan has rather… strained relationships with the Hyuuga and Ogawa, and you father would not want to hear that you were associating with the Uzumaki boy."

"Is it because people with the Sharingan can see the Ogawa?"

His mother looked down sharply at him. "Who told you that?"

"Lutra-chan did. She said that if me or Hinata…-chan wanted to kill her, she'd be dead. But… I don't have the Sharingan yet, and she managed to hide from me. I don't think she knows that I don't have the Sharingan yet." Mikoto didn't reply to Sasuke for a moment, causing to look up, concerned. "Kaa-san? What's wrong?"

"Sasuke-kun, stop talking about killing your friends, it's not nice."

Sasuke blinked, and then smiled. "So you're not angry?"

"No, I'm not angry with you for making friends. Just be careful around your father and the Ogawa girl's family."

Sasuke was silent for a moment, and then looked away before saying, "Her family's dead – that's why she's here."

The stunned silence told Sasuke that his mother was shocked. Then she found her voice. "Then who is she staying with?"

"The Inuzuka."

"Oh." There was a brief silence. "Then, I have no worries. But still, be wary of telling your father."

Sasuke mulled over this before his mother asked him about what happened in the rest of his day, and he told her. Afterwards, they sat in silence for a moment, before Sasuke asked, "Is Nii-san back?"

Mikoto shook her head. "Neither Itachi-kun or your father are home right now."

A sad expression flickered over Sasuke's face, but he quickly stood up, forcing a smile. "Okay, Kaa-san, I'm going to do some shuriken practice!" He then ran inside to find his sandals before heading off to train.

***

When Hinata arrived at the academy gates after timidly smiling goodbye to her newfound friends, she found her cousin, Hyuuga Neji, and her escort, Hyuuga Kou – both Branch House members – waiting for her. They both bowed stiffly to her, and she returned the gesture before nervously glancing up at them. Neji seemed as cold as ever, not looking at her as he shifted his satchel to hang more comfortably. Kou was a little more courteous, asking her politely how her day was, and listening attentively through her stutter how she had made a couple of friends. When she told Kou that they were Uchiha Sasuke and Ogawa Lutra, Neji's lip curled ever so slightly into a sneer, which Hinata noticed but chose not to pursue; the slight frown on Kou's face seemed only to confirm that she had not made the best choice in friends, and she quickly stopped talking. She hung her head and watched her feet as she walked, each step louder on the stone streets than those of her companions. She clasped her hands, trying not to fidget or worry about what her father would say to her, and trying to think of all the things that had gone well that day.

She… had not disgraced herself?

She certainly hoped she hadn't.

She had not found the written tests too hard?

As the heiress to the clan, she shouldn't have.

She had made good friends?

Evidently not.

Hinata felt tears pooling in her eyes as she imagined her father's responses to her report of the day. He would probably be as disapproving as he had always been in the last few months.

Since her mother died.

She sniffed, trying to hold back the tears, and she heard a quiet "Tch," from her cousin. She didn't have to look up to know what his expression would be.

The rest of the journey passed in silence, and as they arrived at the Hyuuga estate the guards either side of the imposing archway bowed to her. Increasing the angle of her stoop, Hinata returned the gesture before she was hurried inside the main building and into an anteroom to the formal meeting room, where she was instructed to wait with Neji until her father – his uncle – was available. Neji dutifully sat down on his knees, and composed himself calmly. Hinata also knelt, folding her hands demurely on her lap, and trying to take advantage of the quiet moment to meditate. She needed more practice to control her chakra, and calming before she faced her father would be beneficial. She began to breathe in and out slowly, trying to visualise the chakra in her body slowing down and moving to a steady trickle.

Her eyes closed, she was starting to feel calm when a whiskered face topped by blond hair popped into life before her eyes, startling her and making her gasp quietly, all control gone.

"Hinata-sama?"

Hinata looked up at the voice, to see Neji staring at her.

"Hinata-sama," he repeated, "are you alright?"

Forcing herself to try and breathe normally again, she nodded slightly. "H-hai, Neji-nii-san…"

Either satisfied or not caring if she was lying, Neji settled back down to await her father's arrival.

Hinata closed her eyes again, still slightly shaken by the image of the boy: Uzumaki Naruto. However, she couldn't focus on her meditation with Naruto's face in her mind, and she was sure her father would be even less approving of her interest in him; she'd been told before to stay away from the blond.

He had looked sad.

"Hinata. Neji."

Hinata's head jerked back up to see her father standing tall above her. She stifled a squeak of surprise, and bowed to him. "K-konnichiwa, Otou-san…"

"Konnichiwa, Hiashi-sama," Neji said courteously.

Hiashi knelt down in front of them. "Hinata, how was your first day at the academy?

"A-ano, Otou-san, i-it went well, th-thank you."

"What occurred?"

"E-eto… W-we took p-part in s-some activities s-so we c-could get to kn-know each other a little better, a-and then m-most of the day was t-taken f-for tests."

"What manner of tests?"

"L-literacy, n-numeracy and physical."

"How did you do?"

I-I had little d-difficulty o-on the literacy a-and numeracy tests, a-and I did q-quite well on the phsycial tests."

"What were the results?" Each of Hiashi's questions came relentlessly, not pausing to comment on Hinata's report, or give any sign of approval or disapproval.

Hinata hesitated before answering, sure that her father would not be happy. "E-eto… K-Koimaru-sensei h-has n-not m-marked the p-papers yet…"

"And the physical assessments?"

Nervously looking up at her father, Hinata swallowed. "I-I m-managed t-ten lengths, I-I sc-scored t-twelve p-points on the sh-shuriken range a-and I p-performed f-fairly well i-in sp-sparring." As Hiashi's eyes hardened even further, Hinata flicked her eyes downward, afraid of what was to come next.

A silence followed before her father's controlled but cold voice questioned her again, making her even more nervous but not persuading her to look up. "And… what was the highest score, attained by whom?"

Hinata kept her head down as she quietly said, "U-Uchiha S-Sasuke, w-with t-twenty-two lengths a-and a sc-score of t-twenty-s-six on the shuriken range."

Hiashi was silent for a moment before speaking. "Who are you?"

Hinata tensed, familiar with the words her father made her say every time he felt she had forgotten her position. "I-I am Hyuuga Hinata, the f-first heiress t-to the Hyuuga c-clan, the st-strongest, m-most n-noble a-and w-wisest clan in the village of K-Konohagakure, a-and I sh-should act as s-such, w-working towards the b-betterment of m-myself and the c-clan."

"Do not forget it." Hiashi stood, his white robes swirling around him as he turned to leave.

"Hiashi-sama." Neji spoke calmly, and his uncle paused, waiting for him speak. "Do you not wish to know which of her classmates Hinata-sama has already associated with?"

Hiashi slowly turned back to face them, and Hinata cringed as she felt his gaze boring into the top of her head. Eyes on her, he levelly asked Neji, "Who?"

A barely disguised smug tone eased into Neji's voice as he answered, "Uchiha Sasuke and Ogawa Lutra. And someone she has not mentioned."

Hinata felt her face heat slightly as she snapped her head to see Neji with an air of self-satisfaction around him. "N-Nii-san! Th-that is n-not true! I-I have n-not sp-spoken to a-anyone apart f-from S-Sasuke-k-kun a-and Lutra-ch-chan o-out of l-lessons!" Neji looked triumphant as Hiashi spoke.

"Hinata." Hinata turned back to her father, trying not to panic. "Do you know who you have made 'friends' with?" He made the word sound rude.

Hinata nodded.

"Then you know that the Hyuuga have bad relations with the Uchiha and their intentions to ruin the village, and that the Ogawa are our enemies?"

Hinata nodded again.

"Then," Hiashi said, sounding slightly chagrined, "why?"

Cringing at the disappointment she could hear, Hinata stared at her lap. "B-because Lutra-ch-chan w-was k-kind to me, a-and S-Sasuke-k-kun w-was n-nice enough." She quailed as she felt the atmosphere drop several degrees.

"You made 'friends' solely based on superficial actions." It wasn't a question, and the criticism stung like a slap in the face. "Have you considered that the Ogawa girl, who is a nemesis of both the Hyuuga and the Uchiha, is acting out of a desire for requital and lulling you into a delusory sense of security, or trying to corrupt you? Or that the Uchiha is working on behalf of his clan, debauching the youth of the village as his elder brother perverts his seniors?"

Trembling, Hinata tried to keep her composure, but it was stolen away by the gist of what her father was saying; even though she didn't know many of the words he used, she understood his meaning. Tears started to roll down her face, and she sniffed, not saying anything as she didn't trust her voice.

Hiashi was silent for a moment as he appraised the crying girl – his crying daughter – before standing. "Be ready for training at five o'clock." He turned, and stopped at the door. "Do not allow them to lead you astray."

Hinata looked up, surprised. "D-does that mean-" But he was already gone. After throwing a smirk in Hinata's direction, Neji got up and followed the patriarch, leaving Hinata in the anteroom, free to cry.

She did so.

After a few minutes curled up in a ball and crying, Hinata forced herself to stop snivelling, wiped her eyes on her sleeve and shakily stood up before picking up her schoolbag and slipping through the estate to find one of the only people who ever seemed happy to see her. It was likely that it was because she wasn't old enough to see the first heiress' mistakes and failings, but she didn't care.

Seeing her baby sister's beautiful smile was enough for Hinata.

As Hinata trotted down the corridor leading to the nursery, she heard the thin wail of her sister and increased her pace, worried that she had been left alone again. She stopped in front of the door, and timidly opened it, half expecting someone to be angry with her for being there. As it was, the room was empty of people, bare as usual, and with the white cradle in the centre of the room. The wailing quieted to a whimper as the door opened and shut, and Hinata dropped her bag, hurried over to the cradle, and leant over the edge. The whimpering stopped.

Hanabi was a beautiful baby. Large white eyes took in everything with curiosity, and her face was framed by soft dark brown hair, like her father's. As a smile cracked the chubby face, Hinata wondered how anyone could bear to see the child upset, and what it would be like to have her own baby. She gently stoked a tear-stained cheek with one finger, and Hanabi gurgled happily. Hinata smiled.

Struggling a little, the small girl lifted the baby out of the cradle, blankets and all, and held the heavy yet fragile bundle close to her as she carefully trod towards the door. She pulled it open with one foot as she caressed the dark downy hair of her sister, and was slightly startled by the appearance of Hanabi's nursemaid in the doorway.

"Hinata-sama!" The woman bowed to her. "I heard the child-"

"Hanabi-ch-chan," Hinata cut across, slightly upset by her sister being merely another baby.

"-Hanabi-sama, and came to investigate." She looked slightly worried. "Hinata-sama, are you sure you-"

"Sh-she was crying." To Hinata, her explanation seemed perfectly reasonable. Still, the nursemaid sighed and leant down to take Hanabi. Hinata shied away, pulling her sister closer, but the woman prised the baby away, although panic returned to her eyes when Hanabi started mewling again and tears formed in Hinata's eyes. As the volume of the wailing increased, the nursemaid looked between the two crying heiresses and slowly gave Hanabi back to Hinata.

The blue-haired girl clutched Hanabi protectively, smiled through her tears, inclined her head and whispered, "A-arigatou, Junko-san," before slipping out into one of the many gardens to watch the blossom-filled trees, and spend a little time with her sister before she went to the dojo for practice.

***

Lutra felt the need to stifle a smile as Kiba practically danced around his mother on the way home; if he had been a pup on a leash, Tsume's legs would have been tangled in moments. However, he wasn't, so he kept on darting around, retelling most of the day with wild gestures and exaggerated details. He pouted as he complained firstly at how hard the written tests were, and then grumbled about why super-ultra-cool ninja like him had to waste time writing and doing maths when they should be out on ultra-super-cool missions. Lutra didn't quite stop the giggle escaping at this, seeing a similarity between her cousin and the blond he had sparred with, Uzumaki Naruto, but it wasn't as though anyone noticed it. The two boys were similar in many respects, it seemed.

But at least he didn't complain about the concept of teamwork, which was a good sign, she supposed.

By the time they reached home, Kiba had finished telling Tsume about his day, and begged her to let him run over to the Inuzuka-run Konoha Kennels to tell his father, Genshu Takahiro, and Hana if she was there. After a moment's hesitation, Tsume granted him permission on the basis that he was home by six, and told the others that dinner was at six-thirty. He eagerly agreed and dashed off, leaving his mother and cousin on the doorstep. Lutra heard her aunt sigh as she unlocked the door, and reached up to touch her wrist. Tsume looked down at her, blinked, and then smiled.

"Ah, sorry, I was ignoring you again, wasn't I? How was school for you?"

"It went well, Tsume-oba-sama. I found the tests relatively easy, and due to their kekkei genkai I have made friends with Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuuga Hinata."

Tsume looked a little surprised, but then smiled as she led Lutra inside. "I'm glad you've made friends. Maybe the families are too strict and traditional, but they make good ninja, and are good to work with once they get over their superiority issues."

Lutra said nothing on the matter, and simply stared up at Tsume before showing her aunt, through the temporary bond their contact made, her moment of hesitation at letting Kiba go to see his father, and putting an enquiring presence behind it.

Tsume actually flinched, either at the mental contact or Lutra's observation. She too a breath and looked like she was about to deny everything before she sighed, conceding to her niece.

"Your uncle and I are having a difficult patch, Lutra." Tsume's eyes flickered to the room where the dogs usually slept. This did not go unnoticed, but Lutra kept her thoughts to herself this time, drawing her own conclusions. Tsume forced a smile. "Now, why don't you go and do some shuriken practice? I need to check on Ami's bitch, Byakuko, since she's due any day…"

Lutra was left standing in the living room while Tsume hurried off, concerned for her family's precious canines. Lutra shrugged and padded upstairs to the room she shared with Hana, settling down with the Sudoku book she had bought with the pocket money Tsume allowed her, wondering whether her aunt and uncle would make up.

* * *

Reviews are greatly appreciated!

And, to the anonymous reviewer from last time, I apologise for not getting back to you but I obviously had no way to do so. So next time, if anyone has questions for me, please give me some way to contact you, or your user name here so I can PM you!

Yes, the plotline will be changed somewhat. It's fanfiction, not the original! Still, most of the key events will happen as in canon, just with small alterations. This fic is exploring the childhood of the characters, up until Sasuke leaves, so I'm exploiting loopholes and writing to fulfill some of my silly fangirl wants. Like SasuNaru hints. But don't worry, it won't end up SasuNaru; there are only the fixed one-sided pairings, at least in Telepathy. And like you said, having an invisible character who ties some of the others together is useful; it lets me get inside the kids' heads.

Oh, and Sakura IS here, in the class; but, while she's a major character in the series, she's not especially prominent in her childhood. She's not popular, because of her forehead, so she just ends up in the background, probably trailing after Ino's group. Ino only got mentioned because she's the last person in the circle (chapter 5) and because she's outgoing enough to be a ringleader already, and to be interested in Sasuke after his little display. So Sakura will show up in due course, when needed; but she isn't that important to Telepathy's story anyway.


	9. Late Nights

The Naruto characters (c) Masashi Kishimoto.

Ogawa Lutra, Genshu Takahiro and the random Inuzuka (like Ami) and their dogs (like Byakuko) (c) me, Lutra-Gem

* * *

If that night was anything to go by, they would not.

Lutra was woken, about ten o'clock, by barking and whining, and voices from the dogs' room; more precisely, the whelping room. Wondering what was wrong, Lutra slipped out of bed, noting that Hana was not in hers as she did so, and padded down the hallway. She walked straight into the room, pressing herself against the wall so she wasn't in the way, and silently watched.

The dog was having her puppies, and the family had come to watch.

Hana was kneeling by the labouring dog, doing things Lutra didn't know about but made sense to help the birth. Tsume and Hiraku stood over her, occasionally whispering advice to their daughter, which she accepted readily. Kiba was fidgeting in the background, kept from interfering with the birth by Tsume's massive dog, Kuromaru. The bitch's owner also hovered in the background, concerned for her companion.

As each puppy was born, Hana helped the dog to bite through the umbilical cord, and murmured the gender before passing the pup to her mother to be checked over and weighed. Hiraku made a note of all the details as his wife and daughter whispered them to him, a calculating look in his eye. Tsume would then gently lay the newborn back down with its mother, where it squirmed into her warmth blindly. The process would then start again as the contractions began for the next puppy.

"Bitch."

"Dog."

"Dog.

"Dog, but looks like it's got a bad paw."

"Bitch, looks like a runt."

And then it was over. The mother tiredly licked her puppies clean, and guided each one over to her teats so it could feed. Hana helped to clean the mess up, and the dogs in the room barked happily. Kiba started pestering his parents in the hope of being able to have one, which they refused, much to his annoyance. Leaving the happy owner with her dog and litter, Tsume, Hiraku, Hana and Kiba all left, going to the kitchen, with Lutra trotting silently behind. Tsume and Hiraku were arguing in angry whispers, and they stepped out into the back garden as soon as Hana and Kiba had sat down, shutting the door behind them. Raised voices immediately drifted through the wood, and although the children couldn't see their parents, it was easy to imagine their faces.

Lutra started to make hot chocolate for the three of them.

"The runt and the lame should be put down – they'll be no use for working or breeding!" This was Hiraki.

"No! Just because she's the runt of the litter doesn't mean she can't work, or breed, or be a companion! And the dog could be a companion too," Tsume responded.

"It's not worth the resources to rear them!"

"It's always worth it!"

"It's uneconomical!"

"It's ethical and moral!"

"Leaving them to grow and be useless is immoral!"

Hana had long brought Kiba into her arms and covered his ears, trying to muffle the row. Kiba was snivelling into her nightgown and clung tightly to her.

Lutra quietly put two mugs of hot chocolate in front of the pair and tapped Hana's wrist to let her know. The pre-teen, used to Lutra appearing randomly and only communicating with feelings, nodded gratefully in Lutra's general direction before taking Kiba's arms from around her waist, pressing a mug into his hands and gently leading him up to his bedroom for the night. Lutra waited patiently in the kitchen for Hana to return for her own drink. When the girl returned, looking distinctly upset now and glancing nervously at the back door, she slid onto a chair and sipped the warm drink. She started slightly as Lutra touched her arm, sending a questioning thought to her cousin. Hana slumped on the tabled and cradled her mug in her hands before speaking quietly.

"Mum… Dad… They always argue after a litter's been born. Dad's an outsider, not from the village; he was a prominent dog breeder from the Tea Country, and Grandpa thought it would be a good idea to have him marry Mum, so they could share talents and experiences and improve the Inuzuka pack. But as a civilian, he specialises in domestic and traditional working animals. While he cares for the dogs, he's more interested in breeding specialised ones and selling on the stock. A runt or a lame is a poor investment." Hana paused for a moment, and sighed as she eyed the door again. "On the other hand, Mum specialises in nin-dog and is much more concerned about the dogs than the profit. Dad just… doesn't get it." She sipped her drink. "He doesn't get it at all, so Mum's always fighting with him. She normally wins, but…" Trailing off, Hana stared into the frothy brown mixture. Then, almost inaudibly, she said, "One of my triplets is the father. His first."

Lutra's heart went out to her cousin, and the girl smiled a little as she felt it through the temporary bond. Then she picked up her mug, downed the drink and stood up. "Anyway, if he puts any of them down, it won't just be Mum he's answering to; I'll put him down myself," she joked awkwardly. Patting Lutra's head she said, "Come on; bed for us. They… They'll stop arguing in their own time." She glanced again at the door, where voices could still be heard, although they were quieter and more intense, so only the occasionally "Bastard," and "Stupid woman," came through. Hana then steered her cousin into bed before going to bed herself. Before long her breathing had evened out in the depths of sleep, and eventually lulled Lutra's fretting mind to sleep.

Late the same night, Sasuke was padding quietly though the dark corridors of his house, coming back from a visit to the bathroom, when he heard voices coming from the meeting room, and a beam of light spilled from a crack in the sliding doors. As he recognised his father's low chuckle he stopped to listen to the conversation.

"You are my son, indeed. I knew I could trust you to enter ANBU."

Sasuke regarded the statement for a moment, before realising that Itachi had succeeded in his mission.

It was probably unfair of him to be upset that his brother had gotten into ANBU.

It just meant that there was even more for Sasuke to work up to.

Hinata lay awake that night in her stark, cold room, thoughts of the day passing incessantly through her mind: her father's angry words at an innocent girl not born in the village; the rudeness of everyone towards Naruto; the surprise friendship and acceptance of an 'enemy' and a rival clan's heir; the blond's smile as he lapped up the class's attention; her father and her cousin's disapproval of her friends, and the harsh training session, which had left her with several bruises from Jyuuken strikes, even if they were free of chakra to 'protect' her; the look of disappointment when Hinata failed to land a strike on even Neji, who was a Branch House member and supposedly below her; and Neji's smug air when Hiashi nodded in silent approval of his skill.

Hinata wished so badly that he would give her even that simple nod to show pleasure in her.

She sighed and rolled over on the bed, trying to ease the pressure on a bruise on her ribs, and stifled a sob, making efforts to reassure herself that she was just a slow learner and that she would one day meet her father's expectations. It was of small comfort. Then she remembered the blond boy's sunny smile, even after he had tripped and embarrassed himself. Smiling weakly, Hinata took a little courage from the memory, and eventually drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Good grief I haven't updated in ages. I just got inspired while I was away to get on with it. Maybe it's because I've been deprived of Naruto creativeness while my friend can't RP at the moment since we both have school commitments and we're at different schools and she's got a bf and... yeah. I've planned SO much to happen in the RP. Seriously. Promotions, arguments, exams, engagements...

Yup. Lots of expansion on the Inuzuka family. I imagine that Tsume is the matriarch of the family, and that the others come to her for help. I think that you can see where I'm going in terms of the father leaving, although it won't be for a few years yet.


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